Sheryl Mai: Mixed feelings as we celebrate Labour Day during Delta outbreak this year

Whangārei Mayor Sheryl Mai and Kirk Milner at the Ngati Hine Health Trust vaccination station in Walton St during Super Saturday last weekend. Photo / Michael Cunningham

FROM THE MAYOR'S DESK

It's warming up as we head towards summer, and it's been wonderful to see so many of you out and about in alert level 2 enjoying our local attractions. It's also sad, however, that we haven't been able to reunite with all our friends, family and loved ones over the long weekend thanks to varying alert levels around the country.

It's important - and fitting - to remember what Labour Day is all about. It commemorates the fight for a standardised eight-hour working day, at a time when many in our country were working 12 or 18-hour days.

In 1840, carpenter Samuel Parnell won the right to an eight-hour working day, making New Zealand workers among the first in the world to demand the right to a work/life balance.

Labour Day became a recognised public holiday 50 years later, with demonstrations, marches and shop closures giving support to the movement on October 28, 1890. All New Zealanders have the right to a healthy, balanced working life in our country, and it has been recognised for many years that work/life balance is essential for our mental health.

Unfortunately, our current situation is making that work/life balance almost unattainable for many of us. Until we reach a higher level of vaccination rates in Northland, many business owners and service providers will remain in a state of high alert, reacting to level changes as best they can while maintaining their income.

One of the "sleeper" risks with the Covid-19 pandemic is the impact on our mental health, particularly those who are working harder than ever to maintain their income. From business owners to service providers and those in frontline customer care positions, people are experiencing more pressure, stress and anxiety than ever before.

The level of uncertainty around level changes combined with rolling lockdowns across the country is playing havoc with us all – and even more so for those trying to keep businesses alive.

I would like to express my pure gratitude for those who worked so hard during Super Saturday on October 16, and ka pai to those who showed up to get a jab. With its carnival atmosphere, free giveaways and food, fantastic healthcare staff and speedy service, our Super Saturday efforts were a huge success.

Across the country, first-dose vaccination rates went up 2 per cent, and here in Northland, a total of 5115 people received their first or second vaccination that day.

At the time of writing this column, our district was still sitting at only 60.8 per cent fully vaccinated. We need to keep going, so we can all enjoy more freedom over summer.

What can you do to help? Get vaccinated. Talk to your friends, whānau and colleagues about getting vaccinated. Have those hard conversations, dispel myths, do research, get facts, and together we can take some of this hardship off our local businesses and workers.

• Sheryl Mai is mayor of Whangārei